Funds are requested to defray expenses for travel, room and board incurred by speakers and session chairs who attend the 1997 Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Aging. The 1997 Conference will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Ventura, California, from January 5 to January 10, 1997. The Gordon Research Conference on Aging has been held approximately every 18 months for the last two and one half decades, and has earned its reputation as one of the most prestigious and informative meetings in the field of aging research. The theme for the 1997 conference will be "Genetics of Aging, Longevity and Stress." Sessions will focus on genetics in model systems; gene expression; and genetic analysis of diseases of aging. A subsidiary topic is the "Evolutionary Basis Of Aging". Throughout we propose an integrated approach so that sessions are topic oriented rather than species or approach oriented. Many sessions will include speakers who employ a range of approaches and model systems, including studies of humans, vertebrate and invertebrate animals. In addition to funds to pay the expenses of speakers and chairs, some support is also requested to support the expenses of ten junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, or advanced graduate students who will be invited to attend the conference and to present their work in poster format. All funds will be used to support the costs of travel, room and board, and conference registration, exclusively; no funds will be used for administrative expenses, which are supported by the Gordon Research Center. The Gordon Research Center will also provide the Chair with a Conference Fund of $14,500 which will be used to support a portion of the travel expenses of invited speakers and session chairs, and the requested budget has been adjusted accordingly.